Waterfalls

Here are some of the waterfalls we saw along the way. I am not including the ones in Skaftafell since I just posted them the other day. The top picture is from a waterfall by Kirkjubæjarklaustur; there were several more waterfalls there but I didn't take pictures of them.

Regarding the rainbow picture, it was taken by Skógafoss. When I got very close to the waterfall (and quite wet!), I could see this very strong rainbow, in a full circle all around me (with a diameter of a few meters). And whenever I moved the circle would move with me! Pretty cool for an optical illusion :).

Skógafoss...

And its rainbow

Seljalandsfoss, from the front...

And from the back! (you can walk behind it)

Gullfoss, from the front...

And from the side, a clearer view of the lower falls

Skaftafell and Svartifoss

Continuing on the previous post, our trip took us to the Skaftafell national park, in South-Eastern Iceland. Apparently it's the largest national park in Europe, though we only stopped there to see the lovely Svartifoss waterfall. It's visible after a short hike up the mountains.

I found the hike to be disorienting at first, and even a bit claustrophobic, because I was not used to such amounts of vegetation and trees any more! You'd think you were in Europe while climbing, and not on this barren rock. But from time to time there are views of the sandur (a black sand desert formed by the melting of the glaciers and the erosion that they bring), so then it feels like Iceland again :).

The waterfall we saw is surrounded by black basaltic columns and is quite beautiful. The name Svartifoss means "black waterfall".

Trees!

More trees!

A cute waterfall

Boundaries

Very green...

At least the sandur is still there

Another waterfall

Finally, Svartifoss appears

Columns on the side

Jó by the water

This is what happens when you drop the camera lens cover

Summertime...

So, we currently have about 6 hours of sunlight a day, and it's been often cloudy or rainy. And a bit cold. Therefore, I don't have much in the way of new pictures from the country to post here.

Thankfully, my procrastination can come to the rescue! I still have pictures from this summer that I have not posted yet. So I will post them now :). These pictures were taken in July/August, when Jó's aunt and her husband were visiting us.

We went to several places with Jó's relatives, and I also got Thai cooking lessons several nights in a row :). They also brought us many bottles of contact lens solution, as our guests often have to do when they visit. You'd understand if you lived here.

You can walk behind the Seljalandfoss waterfall

A comfy rock, somewhere around Seljalandfoss

Getting a bit too close to Skógafoss

Jó by Dyrhólaey (or for Lebanese people, Raouche-in-Iceland)

Interesting rocks around that area

And Puffins!

And of course, who can forget the sheep

In front of a (dirty) glacial tongue

Stained glass window at the national museum

View of the city from the top of Hallgrímskirkja

Boiling mud at Krísuvík

Nice colors

Don't dip your toes in there...

[PS: Note that I don't put pictures of people other than Jó and myself on the blog, as a matter of privacy. However if you are fine being on the blog, send me a message :)]

Móskarðshnúkar

Last weekend, Jó and I went for another hike on Esja in the lovely weather. We didn't take the main hike (from the bus stop) which we took last time, but rather decided to avoid the crowds and go on another spot in the moutains. We settled on a hike going up to Móskarðshnúkar, a set of 3 rhyolite peaks in the south-east of Esja. We hiked the middle peak (a bit under 800m of elevation).

The hike was quite interesting, especially towards the top where the slope is quite severe and where stepping through the rhyolite stones feels like getting trapped in glassy sand. Rhyolite is a light, almost glassy volcanic rock that can take on yellowish colors. Those three peaks are a typical example, the amazing Landmannalaugar is another.

Little flowers

Rhyolite!

So... there should be a mountain right in front of us!

Near the top

The peak

Summit self portrait

Jó and the tabletop mountains behind her (you can even see a glacier from that spot, though not in this picture)

A snack on the way down

A cute waterfall with basalt columns